After the Fall
by SniperCT
Summary: Manadh used to be Aveline's master and the kind of Jedi who walked a very grey path. She fell to the Dark Side and Aveline has been hunting her ever since. Roughly based on two SWTOR characters, though AU to the game since it's based more on some RP my wife and I did prior to the game coming out.


_**(Manadh used to be Aveline's master and the kind of Jedi who walked a very grey path. She fell to the Dark Side and Aveline has been hunting her ever since. This is just one of their encounters.**_

_**Roughly based on two SWTOR characters, though AU to the game since it's based more on some RP my wife and I did prior to the game coming out.)**_

Aveline edged along the narrow chasm. She was deep inside a military or research facility. Lights blinked on the bridge, and metal cylinders and protrusions jutted out of the rock above her. She began to move with purpose, the prey she'd been chasing across half the galaxy close.

The Jedi dropped down and began to run. She could feel the dark side, oppressing and thick in the air, and when she stepped into a chamber at the far end of the complex, the source stood atop a dias.

The figure wore robes that shimmered lightly. White and gold, mocking the colors that she herself preferred. When the fallen Jedi turned, her face was obscured by a smooth white mask, made of a material that resembled glass but was likely much stronger.

Aveline felt relief. She thought that her resolve might falter if she looked on the other woman's face. Emotions that she'd struggled to contain for years might boil over. She'd done some questionable things, and it wouldn't take much to push her over the edge. As it was, she could see the waves of energy that rolled off of her master.

Her saber flared blue, but her opponent didn't draw. Instead, Manadh rested her hands in the sleeves of her robes. There was no other movement, but a metal platform wrenched out of the wall to her left and hurtled towards her. Aveline flipped back. Another chunk of debris flew in from her right and she rolled out of the way. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Manadh walking forward, calmly, almost serenely.

A chunk of rock from the ceiling crashed down towards her. She moved back but the ground rose up underneath her and sent her sprawling. She narrowly avoided being impaled by a pole. Through it all, the dark Jedi approached. Her demeanor was unsettling. The rage that fueled her was a cold burn and her control of the force was so precise that there was no need for hand gestures. Aveline could make out tendrils of the force in the air, but the darkness surrounding Manadh was so dense that it nullified her natural Miralukan sensitivity. It left her almost blind as she charged forward.

The Jedi's strike was precise, Manadh never drawing her saber. She was met with resistance. Every strike was pushed back by the force. She drew upon the force as well, lending herself additional strength. She only realized her error in the second before Manadh turned her own energy against her. Blasted back, she hit the wall, the force buffeting her until consciousness fled her.

They'd always walked a dangerous path, the two of them. Manadh had taught her that true balance was neither light nor dark, but the area in between. Somewhere along the way, her teacher had strayed off the path. Aveline had loved her. Still loved her. Love in a way that was often frowned upon at the best, forbidden at the worse. That was the other lesson; One can love, but never let attachment control them.

"We always share this dance, do we not?" Manadh's dulcet tones drew Aveline back into the world. Her voice was low and husky, but did not betray the storm beneath the surface. It was cold, a cold that made Aveline's heart ache. Her breath against her ear however, was not. "It always ends the same."

She could hear the sound of an engine idling. Manadh's ship was nearby, and they were back on the surface. The dark Jedi had taken her all the way here. Her mask was gone, and she drank in her face. "Manadh, you don't have to keep fleeing. You can come back."

"Come back to you? Or back to the Jedi, where they will banish me at best?" Her laugh - how Aveline had always loved her laugh - sent a shiver down her spine. "Do not bother with the redemption speech. We both know there is no hope for me."

Manadh's lips touched Aveline's, teasing and taunting, and the Jedi took the bait. It always ended this way. A hunt and a fight, and Manadh's lips to remind her of what she could have if only she let herself. This time she moaned as the other woman pulled away and stood. This time, she gave Manadh's victory a sweeter end. Breathless, she asked, "Why don't you just kill me then? This is just a game to you. You'll get bored eventually." She didn't want to give Manadh the satisfaction of asking if it meant she still cared.

"My dear Aveline. I do not kill you because some day - and soon, you will be strong enough to beat me." Manadh always had a way of smiling that tore straight into Aveline's heart. "And on that day, you will either join me, or you will kill me. No matter what you choose, you fall. And then, I will win."

Manadh strode up the ramp, and the hatch closed behind her. Aveline pulled herself to her feet and watched as the ship shot away into the sky.

"No," she murmured to herself. There was one last lesson her master had taught her. "You still love me. And that means there's hope."


End file.
